Goldfish Gets A Custom-Made Wheelchair And It’s Too Sweet For Words
Are you ready to “awww” so loud it breaks the sound barrier?
Well, do I have the story for you. A animal-loving hero made a custom wheelchair for… a goldfish.
Animal rights advocate and YouTuber Taylor Dean recently shared the amazing story with her followers. The goldfish in question evidently came into an aquarium where Dean’s friend Derek works. The fish suffers from swim bladder disease (also called “swim bladder disorder” or simply “flipover”), a common condition that can strike goldfish.
The purpose of a fish’s swim bladder is to keep it buoyant. When the bladder is impaired, a fish might struggle to swim. Some goldfish with swim bladder disease float to the top of their tank, others swim upside down or otherwise struggle to control their swimming.
Most goldfish who get swim bladder disease, which can be caused by a variety of factors including as poor water quality or variance in water temperature, can experience relief with diet changes and improved water quality.
However, in this particular goldfish’s case, all venues for treatment had been exhausted. Nothing was helping this fish to get moving again. Thinking outside the box, Derek got to work. He fashioned the goldfish a makeshift wheelchair out of aquarium airline tubing, valves and Styrofoam.
My friend made a wheelchair for a goldfish pic.twitter.com/QghXTY7rme
— Taylor Nicole Dean (@taylorndean) March 10, 2017
And let’s just say, the internet is LOVING this sweet story:
https://twitter.com/Diomiraa_/status/840774638904979456
your friend is one of the reasons why humanity deserves a chance
— magdalena – BLM (@finchbyrne) March 11, 2017
— PRETTYBABYLYNN ₊̣✧*̣̩˚̣̣⁺̣‧.₊̣̇.ෆ (@PRETTYBABYLYNN) March 10, 2017
Since coming up with the design, Derek has continued to tweak it. And the wheelchair has only gotten better and better. Here is the most recent improvement:
Just wanted to let you guys know wheelchair fish is still doing well and got an even more comfortable wheelchair pic.twitter.com/AwjeJU0pFL
— taylor nicole dean (@taylorndean) March 15, 2017
And here is the fish getting suited up for his day:
How wheelchair goldfish gets suited up for his day pic.twitter.com/AbwoOrpdRn
— taylor nicole dean (@taylorndean) March 15, 2017
The most touching part of this story is that it has inspired unity during a time when this country desperately needs it. It is encouraging people to see beyond a animal’s “flaws” and offer them love and support, instead of giving away the animal or running from the problem.
you are teaching people that all animals no matter their handicap deserve love and support to live a normal life.
— Jonathon (@Jonthemon88) March 11, 2017
My hope is that wheelchair fish can bring this country together https://t.co/IABPdoMD8w
— Samantha (@SamDianeK) March 16, 2017
https://twitter.com/shysteer/status/842129918892863488
Aw. What a sweet story and what a happy ending for such a deserving fish.
https://twitter.com/flav_can/status/840371242549010434
h/t: Mashable